Ya know...with all the guitars I've had, and played, I dont think Ive heard one quite as expressive as this one...it seems to have opended up nicely..the shop had a newer D18GE that was might "tighter"..both physically and audibly....

Darn thing does show all my shortcomings in technique and such...heheheh

Speaking of capos (an essential tool for bluegrass flatpicking)....which one do you all use... I use a Shubb and like it alot...it's only drawback is that it has no where to go except off the guitar when not in use. I've seen some more exotic pricey ones and wonder if they are really worth all that extra $...

I wouldn't worry too much about that Kyser up on the headstock. I read somewhere that the added weight in that area can actually enhance the tone. Plus, Clarence always used one of that other kind of "lever" capos, and he would slide it up to rest above the nut.....didn't seem to hurt his tone at all.

It took a lot of trying out lots and lots of capos to realize what a difference a good capo can make. I've tried shubbs and kysers and too many others to count. In my humble opinion I'd say for the money the best value goes to the shubb but best performance overall goes to the former mckinney now known as the Mckinney Elliott capo. They are pretty expensive but they are the best capo I've tried and there is a very noticable difference in performance between a Mckinney Elliot and every other capo. It seems to me that the Mckinney Elliott comes the closest to allowing the string to ring and sustain like it would if it were being played open. They are light and sleek and store nicely behind the nut. Bought one about 10 years ago and have never needed another capo.

Weight on the headstock will enhance sustain but cut punch. On non-scalloped guitar like Clarence's D-18 that tends to be bright an nasally to begin with, more sustain is good, but on a scalloped braced guitar like the GE, I'd prefer more punch. And, of course, Clarence didn't have the capo or guitar choices that we have today. I had a Hamilton capo, too, but as soon as Shubb came out I got one of them. I only moved to the Elliot/Paige type after getting more Tony Rice influence in the mid-80's.

Haaa!...and here I thought you were sharing your experience and expertise..

Actually..as a guy who is not allowed to use "Rolling Writer" pens anymore because they manage to get into the laundry and reek havoc with my wifes stuff, Ive been hyper cautious about putting any sort of a nick or mark on the D18GE...so Bryans comment regarding no capo clamped on the headstock made sense...

I was going to make some smart comment about the cost of those Elliot capos until I went and bought a new Schubb specifically for the Martin...new guitars are great for letting you buy stuff all over again...and it was 26 bucks....for something with a 50-50 chance of getting lost in the next 6 months....last time I bought one it was $9